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Business as “Usual”

Behind all the pretty pictures of the children and the growing progress of the school, there is the business side of things – which in Tanzania can sometimes be frustrating. At other times, it can be quite enjoyable to be part of – especially coming from another culture where business just unfolds differently.  I’ll start with the frustrations, since that’s what always greets me when I arrive after a year away.

First, I found out that some of the classrooms that I had hoped would have been built before I came weren’t built. I was hoping they would be finished so that we could get as many roofs up this summer as possible.  Well, that was an unfair request on my part and while I was initially a little bummed that Lucas had just been letting the money pile in the bank instead of building – ultimately, he was right to do so.  The money he didn’t spend was critical to reaching our goal of buying any roofs at all.

Expenses for roofing materials are high, to say the least – and they’ve only gone up since last year according to Lucas and our builder Isaya.  So, with every cent that we had, we chipped away daily at the list of items that Isaya made up for us.  And, since we’re working in a village, this list also had a line item for 3 separate truck transports from the town market to the building site.  We bought hundreds of 2x4s, 2x6s, several sheets of aluminum, nails of three different sizes and some iron to join sections of the roof.  Then we paid for 3 deliveries on two separate days.  I really didn’t think it would tap the bank, but these are the first roofs I’ve put in place and now I know what to expect for the next 3 sections of the school.

Of course, I never get to go shopping for materials because as soon as they see me, the price changes. So for me – being somewhat of a control freak and always wanting a fair price – handing over stacks of cash and letting the transactions take place in good faith is hard. (It’s always cash here.  No checks, no cards – even when spending thousands.)  But, as with Lucas, I trust Isaya – his brother and our builder and he always gets a receipt to show that what he estimated was the fair price.  He is a good builder and has a good relationship with the shops.  One day, I reached my max at the ATM and he had to be given some materials on his word until he could pay the next day.  They let him, and as we promised, the shop was paid the next day.  We’ve heard stories of people in town taking materials, promising to pay the shopkeepers back and months later – they still haven’t surfaced.  This ruins the trust for everyone, but luckily – Isaya is reliable and they know where to find him. J

The next matter of frustration was the laundry list of gossip and ‘corruption’ that Lucas presented me with.  First, “people” in the village were saying that Lucas was rich and that Project Wezesha paid him so much that he personally had $100 million USD.  Can you imagine?  As if I’d walk an hour a day instead of taking ‘boda boda’ (motorcycle taxi) every time or better yet, as if I wouldn’t rent an SUV in Dar es Salaam and fly it in on my private jet … if I had a million dollars, let alone 100 million dollars.  It’s just so outlandish, but nonetheless, it puts a lot of pressure on Lucas when people think he has that much money.  Along similar lines, my friend Jane was part of a women’s group that Lucas helped them form – it’s nothing new to the region.  There are many women’s groups and they all operate a little differently but the general point is to let the women serve as a bank to the group.  They pay a set amount every month into the pot and each month, one woman takes the pot.  In some cases, this is just a rotation and you know that every x number of months you get a chunk of cash.  If you have an emergency, the group can bump you up to help pay for the doctor or a funeral.  In other systems, you have to pay the pot back after you earn the money back from an enterprise that you start with that cash advance.   In any case, Jane – being a friend of Lucas and me – was also touted to have had $70 million dollars.  Wow.

In more ‘official’ realms, I learned that an important local leader was ‘resisting’ the villagers to help with traditionally contributed services – such as coming to the building site on scheduled basis (rotating districts of the village) to help carry sand, stone and water to the site for the building to continue.  He was hoping to secure support form the villagers for upcoming elections by encouraging them to relax, drink coffee, don’t feel pressure to help, “be free”.  So, Isaya was very disappointed in the villagers.  He said the same few people would come to help and even they weren’t coming much anymore.  He also said it was mostly women that were helping.  Most men here would join me in saying, “Of course.”

Then finally, there was the tiny matter of the village government trying to stake claim to the storage unit that was built to keep all building materials during the course of the construction.  It’s a moot point now because we still have months to go before we’re done, but the reality is that it will be broken down toward the end and the materials that make up the store will be used to make latrines.

But – now for the upside!

First of all, in my desperation about how much the roofing cost and my disappointment that more classrooms hadn’t been finished, I told Lucas – “We need support – big time.”  I was feeling like I wouldn’t be able to keep chipping away like this – being the only person responsible for generating income, pulling my friends into my efforts as volunteers over and over and constantly asking my friends and family to donate again and again.  As I’m well aware – it’s not sustainable and at some point, I will burn out.

So, Lucas and I worked our way up some government channels until we were in the big fancy office of the District Commissioner, explaining our situation.  He advised us on who to talk to and luckily it was someone that Lucas actually knew – the Division Commander of Mwandiga – a large region within Kigoma that oversees several villages, including Mgaraganza.  In our meeting with this gentleman, my shoulders finally fell back into place and I was breathing easy again.  He told us the next steps, said he would support us in our efforts by arranging a big meeting with the village government and then the village citizens and he expressed his sincere gratitude for our support of the village with Amahoro Secondary School.

On the day we were to meet the village government, I was reminded a few times that, as Lucas always says, “This is Tanzanian peoples, Rai.”  We showed up like Americans – right on time at 9am – having left my hotel at 7:30am to make it.  We took a dala dala to Mwandiga and then splurged on a ‘boda boda’ so we’d arrive, not only on time but not too tired or sweaty.  Of course, only two people were present.  They told us to ‘be free’ and come back around 10:30.

Unfortunately, Jane was at Gombe with Ashahadu, so we strolled to her mother-in-law’s house and chatted for a while.  I got to hold babies (as always J) and listen to Ashahadu’s mother tell me that I need to take her to America.  She said it again and again, laughing and pointing to the sky, motioning as if she could see herself in the plane.  She was so funny.  She has a notion that going to America would make life so much better.  I told her she’d have to work so much, she’d never see the sun again.  We talked at length about the cost of living, how we take loans to buy houses and pay the bank our entire lives, etc.  Here, they get enough money to buy 10 bricks – they buy ten bricks.  When they have enough for a house, they build.  After it’s built, they own.  Of course, I told her life in America was great and that it’s a beautiful place to live.  How could I not when all I could think of in that moment was trail running this fall among the changing and falling leaves.

The village government meeting started close to 10:30.  It consisted of the Division Commander, the village Diwani (chief), the Mtendaji (Executive Officer) and the Serekali (village government) Chair.  In addition, every village leader elected in 2010 was present – all the leaders from the various districts in Mgaraganza.  These 25 men and 4 women will be in office for 5 years – so we’re starting fresh, but they’ll be our team until we finish.  The format for the meetings is very formal.  They have a very specific order of speaking and everyone who speaks is introduced with a synopsis of what they will cover.  So, the order goes: Mtendaji, Chair, Division Commander and Diwani.  Then back down the ladder and back up the ladder until they’re ready to invite guests to speak, which in this case were Lucas and I.  Even then, they asked Lucas to speak first and then me.

The majority of the lead up to our speaking was a bit of a scolding about how disappointed the Division Commander was that more villagers weren’t helping on this project.  He was very compelling in his speech (in Kiswhaili, but here’s the jist) –“In the entire world, mama Rai chose Africa.  Now Africa is very big.  And in all of Africa, mama Rai chose Tanzania.  And Tanzania is ‘kubwa sana’ and in all of Tanzania mama Rai chose Mgaraganza Village.  And she is a woman. And she is a student.  She is not rich.  She has no money.  [points to the other women] You are poor, too.  Could you go to another country and help?  Could you go to Kenya and help? Burundi? Congo?  But mama Rai, she is here.”  This is how it goes … the words are strong, the persuasion level is high, heads are nodding, every few points earn a round of applause and then we speak.

Lucas introduced himself and our project.  He reiterated the importance of village support to get this job done.  I started to feel a little bad about all the scolding – but this is their custom and their approach is to repeat, repeat and reinforce the message over and over.  So, when my time to speak came – I expressed my sincere thanks to those who have helped.  I said I’ve seen the piles of stone and sand and I know people are contributing.  But, I said that we do need continued support …. etc, etc, – like those before me.  I told them I was so happy to be here and that I love this village, the people, the environment, the language.  I told them – if only you could see how many people have contributed and how much they follow this project and support the entire village from so far away in the US and Europe.

I also gave a fairly long speech about Lucas.  I told them he was my right hand and that I trust him with everything – the money, decision-making, meetings, etc.  I said that he was an invaluable resource because he speaks English, sends updates via email, takes photos to keep me in the loop, visits our students at their secondary schools to pay fees and check grades, meets with leaders when needed and visits the school site to check on progress.  And of course, he’s a dear friend and like a brother to me – so in addition to all the logistical support, he’s a joy to work with.  I explained that I take no salary at all from Project Wezesha and Lucas only takes a very small salary for his trips to and fro and all the bookkeeping and traveling that he does for the job.  I urged them to support Lucas by resisting people from engaging in gossip about him having a lot of money and purposefully keeping it all to himself.  “It’s just not true.”  I told them that he uses his small salary to feed his family – he lives with his mother, father, two younger brothers and sister.

I didn’t mention this in the meeting, but his family has very little income and relies primarily on Lucas and the sales of goats once in a while.  His parents’ have a farm four hours (walking) from the house and once a year, they go there for up to 4 months to grow and then harvest. At harvest time, all the children (not kids, per se but Lucas and his adult siblings) walk out to the farm and then help carry the food home.  The food consists of corn – corn only.  They don’t sell the corn.  They dry it and then grind it into flour and that feeds them for the rest of the year.  They eat the flour in the form of ‘ugali’, a sticky white substance made when you cook the flour in boiled water.  They also have some ‘mchicha’ (spinach) from another small farm closer to home that Lucas’ mother has.  With any actual money they have, they buy beans, small fish (ndagaa) and sometimes rice.  But mostly, it’s ugali, mchicha and beans.

So, back at the meeting – all went well.  They allowed for a few leaders to speak and they mostly said they were grateful for the support and happy to have us in the village.  They pledged their continued support and said they would encourage people in their districts to help.  The village government also said they would meet with the Division Commander to draft the letter of support for the DC to take to the government to secure funding for the school in the next budget session (hopefully).  I think it seems very likely!  The Diwani said he would invite the DC to come to see the school in order to show them that it is happening.  They are also planning to register the school so that they can perhaps open it in sections and have students begin attending Form 1.  Then, as the blocks of classrooms are completed, the students will continue to be admitted until finally, we have a complete secondary school with students ranging Form 1 to Form 4.

After this small meeting with village heads and the Serekali, we were invited to have lunch with several of them in the office.  We had dried fish, rice and cabbage in a tomato sauce with Coca Cola.  A feast of honor.  Then, well – the next meeting was fun!  The entire village was invited to come out for a Village Public Hearing.  It unfolded similarly to the smaller meeting in terms of order of speaking and content, but added to the content was another harsh scolding because the villagers came over an hour late and even when they did show up, it was only a fraction of the village.  But, by the time the meeting was wrapping up, a nice crowd had come.  I got to speak again and introduce myself.  It was funny because in our smaller meeting, they told me that some people still didn’t believe that there was a woman from America behind the school.  So, I told them – “See, I do exist and my name is Rai.  You can call me dada Rai rather than mzungu now.” And they all laughed.  I told them about Lucas and his importance to the project and that they can trust him deeply.  I told them about all my friends and family back home who support them from afar – “Hundreds of people in America have made this happen, not me alone.”  I thanked them for coming and for any support they have given.

Then, I said – “I like coffee.  Napenda kahawa … sana!” And they all laughed. “And I know that after I drink coffee, I have a lot of energy!” And they laughed again.  “So, next time – after you finish your coffee and you have extra energy, take a walk up to the school and just see if Isaya needs your help.” And again, they laughed and nodded.  Side note: the truth is, they seriously do sit in these large covered open air huts drinking coffee and playing games most of the day … the men only.  The women are off chopping firewood, caring for babies, making food, and fetching water – no exaggeration.  Some men are very hard workers and you always see them pushing a bicycle piled high with pineapple, charcoal, flour, bananas or any other items for sale or consumption.  But more than less are just meandering about.  Even the leaders were confirming this to be true.  They were asking about life in the US and the Division Commander was wishing Tanzanians would work a little more like Americans.  It’s a sacrifice in either direction – pace of life vs. development of society.

Throughout the entire public hearing there were many thanks to Project Wezesha for the support we’ve given by way of the school building and scholarship program.  At the end of the meeting, they invited me up front and offered me a gift.  The Diwani said, “We have little to offer you to say ‘thank you’, only our words.  But we also want to gift you these kangas, which represent our tribe and our culture.  We hope you will never forget Mgaraganza Village.  Keep us in your mind always.  May God bless you with good health, with continued support for this project and safe travels home. Thank you so very much from all of us here in Mgaraganza.”  It was really quite overwhelming.  I put my hand my elbow to take the kangas (showing respect when receiving something), curtseyed a little and turned to tell the entire village – “Urakoze Cane” which manes ‘Asante Sana’ (Thank You) in Kihaa, their tribal language.  They all laughed and clapped.

After some small talk and greetings with a handful of villagers and some familiar faces, we hopped up on our motorcycles and sped off into the sunset.  Literally.  The Division Commander wouldn’t let Lucas and I walk back because ‘the time was not enough’.  So, we took a boda boda to Mwandiga, took a dala dala to Kigoma and after saying ‘bye’ to Lucas I continued on foot along my dusty trail to the hotel to inhale a Kilimanjaro beer and some fish curry. Lala salama, dada Rai.

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Anecdotes from the Field

Dramatization:

Two Americans plan to meet one morning at 9am to have a little meeting before a big meeting.  Here’s how it might unfold in the morning – in a potential scenario:

1 – Hey, sorry I’m late. I was rushing out the door when I realized I didn’t save that file to the flash drive and then the traffic was crazy and my head is not screwed on right today because I don’t think I’ve slept more than 8 hours in the past three days.  I feel like a crazy person.

2 – No worries, I just got here.  I didn’t remember to bring that list we compiled last month but I think we can work without it.  Do you want to grab a coffee first or just get started?

Two Tanzanians plan to meet one morning at 9am to have a little meeting before a big meeting.  Here’s how it might unfold in the morning – in a potential scenario:

1 – Hey

2 – Hey

1 – Is all good?

2 – All’s good?

1 – Is all well?

2 – All’s well.

1 – How are you?

2 – Good, how are you?

1 – Fine, how’s things at home?

2 – Fine, did you sleep well?

1 – Ah yea, I slept well and you?

2 – Ah, for me, I slept fine.  What’s the news?

1 – No news.  How’s the work been?

2 – Oh fine, good. Everything is fine.

1 – Ah, good.  That’s good.

2 – Ok, so.

1 – So, should we go over here to talk?

2 – Fine, let’s go then.

Seen:

T-shirt on distinguished gentleman in my favorite town café read:

My Indian name is: RUNS WITH BEER

Overheard:

To Rai:  Dada, how are you? (In English)

To boy: I’m fine.  I’m tired.

Man on dala: Tire. [then repeats the Kiswahili word for ‘wheel’]

Observed:

Our builders were making a complex A-frame structure for the school roof – three men sawing dozens of 2x4s with a saw – a good old fashioned man-powered saw.  Then, they proceeded to hammer it all together, board by board with a good old fashioned hammer and nails.  Bravo!  But, I wonder if it wouldn’t be nice to talk to that portable solar panel company and see about sending out a panel as a power source along with a skill saw … sure would makes things go about 15 times faster … but then again, maybe their greetings would incidentally be reduced to two lines (or none) with the newfound sense of efficiency.  That would be bad!

Experienced:

You know when you’re super duper rushed and you start to not think too clearly.  Add to the ‘rush factor’ a little bit of nervous energy.  When the two combine, you really get to thinking with barely one half of the old brain.  Like, remember that one time when I squatted under a mango tree to pee quickly before the next villager passes by with a load on her head and I peed on my water bottle.  That was fun.

Resisted:

Corruption of any kind, even an overcharge to get a ride on the dala dala.  You want to charge me 500 Tsh ($.50) extra just because I’m white.  I’d rather walk.  (But damn, could it not have been on a day that I had already walked 5 hours!!)  It’s all about the principle!!

Enjoyed Immensely:

Sitting with Saidi’s Babu as he worked away on his tall grasses to make brooms for sale, surrounded by all types of baby animals and my favorite young students.  Ah, village life.  Napenda!

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Wanafunzi – Our Scholarship Students

Project Wezesha has two primary programs – the construction of Amahoro Secondary School and the scholarship program for secondary school students.  We currently support 13 students who are going to one of three secondary schools in the region – Mugonya, Mwandiga and Kagongo.  On Saturday, we arranged to meet with the students to sit, chat, catch up and see if they had any requests or views to share.  (“Share Views” is one of Lucas’ favorite phrases.)  The ones who were able to make it were:  the girls – Hindu, Silvesia, Edina, Diana, Khadija and the boys – Amosi, Ismael, France and Saidi.  We didn’t get to meet with Judith, Abuyu, Dibeit or Zainabu.

We all greeted one another, shared hugs and handshakes and then gifts.  I brought them each a Project Wezesha t-shirt, made and donated by my hometown friend, Richard Knott with his company Native Sons.  They loved the shirts!  Then, Lucas chatted with them a bit about their final exams and gave a couple of his little mini-lectures to see if they were prepared.  Four of our students – Hindu, Edina, Silvesia and Khadija – will graduate from secondary school on September 15th!  Then, on October 3rd, they will take their final examinations to see if they qualify to go to high school.  I have to say – given the stats that Hindu and Saidi shared the other day, I’m not very hopeful.  They all go to that secondary school that only passed 7 of 200 students last year.  But, I’ll ‘share my views’ about a solution suggested by the students.  First, let me introduce them.

Hindu is my long time friend and dada mdogo.  I met Hindu when I was a guest at GOSESO in 2008.  She lives at the top of the driveway for the guest house I stayed in.  For longtime followers of my story with this community, it was Hindu who lost her father only weeks after I left the second year.  It was also her sister who had the big village wedding that I attended in 2009.  Hindu was shy to warm up to me initially, but then she was relentless with her questions and her desire to know more and more and more about me, America and English.  She was an obvious first choice when I began brainstorming with Lucas about supporting some youngsters in secondary school.  Now, every year I return, it’s definitely like visiting my little sister.  We hold hands, hug, say each other’s name at random throughout the day – “Hindu …. Mambo” …. “Rai …. Mambo”.  After one of our recent visits, Hindu measured my whole body for a skirt and blouse that she is making for me.  I didn’t even know she could sew and she already called Lucas to tell us it’s ready.  I’m excited to see what she can do!  Hindu, after 4 years at Mwandiga Secondary School, is graduating next week!  I’m so excited for her, but it doesn’t stop here.  (stay tuned)

Edina is also a Form 4 student graduating from Mwandiga Secondary next week.  I met Edina when Lucas helped to select her for our first round of students to support in secondary school, back in 2008.  She comes from a single parent home – her mother passed away some time ago and her father and aunt raise her.  She is so bright and has a smile to die for!  As is the case with most girls, her English isn’t great – they are usually so shy to speak in class when they are one of 6-10 girls in a class of up to 90 students.  Imagine!  Having played on a boys’ golf team in high school, I know what that feels like – going through puberty with nothing but boys around … talk about nerves!  But, Edina has some hopes.  She wants to go on and learn about computers when she finishes secondary school.  I don’t think she, or the other girls to be honest, have high expectations about the final exams and therefore high school, but their educational dreams don’t end with graduation next week.

Diana is so tall and strong!  She has the posture of a dancer and so much strength in her character.  She greeted me with a huge hug and told me how much she had missed me, even though we’ve only met briefly on two separate occasions since 2008.  She was beaming on this day together – and walked with me all the way back to Kiganza, asking about my family, my home, my language, etc.  She told me she hopes to be a nurse so she wants to do well in her examinations so she can continue her studies.  Diana is also from a single parent family and was also chosen back in 2008 with the help of Lucas, who investigated the brightest ‘vulnerable’ children in the village of Kiganza.  Diana is a Form 3 student, so she still has another year of studies before graduating.  She also attends a different school – Kagongo Secondary School.

Khadija has one of the most delightful smiles I have ever seen.  She has great cheeks and dimples and if you don’t see her smile, you might be intimidated by her seriousness – but once you crack the shell, she shines!  She, too, is a little bit shy – though not as much as Edina.  She likes to hold hands, ask questions and learn about all types of things.  She is graduation from Mwandiga Secondary next week.  If she can’t go to high school, she wants to study electronics so that she do maintenance on equipment such as computers, radios, TVs.

 

Silvesia is one of our students who is also graduating next week – but this year is the first time I have ever met her!  So, I don’t know much about her except that she lives in Mgaraganza village and she is a firecracker.  She warmed up to me instantly and was asking questions, making jokes, smiling easily and just wanting to know more and more.  It was so great to finally meet her after knowing that we’ve been supporting her in school since 2009.  After secondary school, she would either like to attend vocational school and learn more about computers or go on to high school if possible and become a nurse.

 

France is a very shy young boy.   His English is a little sticky, but he tries – and he is super grateful for the support he’s received (as are they all). He is a Form 3 student at Mwandiga Secondary school.  I have met France a time or two before, but he is always very shy and Luas and I usually spend more time talking to his mother and sister.  His father passed away some time ago, so Lucas thought helping him and his older brother Ismael would be nice.  They have been supported by Project Wezesha since 2008.

 

 

Ismael is more outgoing than his younger brother France.  They are both studying in Form 3, but Ismael goes to Kagongo Secondary with Diana.  Sometimes, exam scores after Primary School determine the school students go to within their region.  I don’t know the details too well.  Ismael is a super delightful young man.  He’s very polite and inquisitive.  He has a big dream of becoming a doctor one day – so I really hope he can pull it off by first passing his final exams next year and then succeeding in high school.

 

Amosi is hilarious!  He seems almost gruff or angry when you first meet him but it’s because behind those eyes and under a slight frown, his mind is racing a mile a minute.  When he stops thinking, relaxes and smiles – his whole face changes! When I asked him what he wanted to do after he was finished with all his studies, he told me he wanted to be the President of Tanzania!  I believe, he might just get there one day – he has determination.  He had many great suggestions for ways he thought Project Wezesha could better support the students – some a little out of our range/mission, such as buying students kerosene to study by light at night.  I know it’s necessary, but there are some components to the children’s education that their parents have to invest in, too.  This was also the first time I’ve met Amosi – it was great to put a face to a name.

Saidi, like Hindu, almost needs no introduction.  Saidi and his good friend Dibeit* used to come over and sit with me daily when I was in Kiganza the first time in 2008.  They always came with notebook in hand and would ask if they could copy from my English/Swahili dictionary because they didn’t have one.  By the end of that trip, I just gave them each a dictionary because they were so determined.  They always came with questions, ideas, enthusiasm and something just sparkled in both of them.  *Dibeit is also in our scholarship program, but he studies in a school in Dodoma, another city in the middle of the country where he has some family.  Saidi’s house is usually the hub for our visits.  When I come to Kiganza, we meet at Saidi’s house and the other kids in the village that we know (Hindu, Clemensia, Dibeit, etc.) come to his house to visit.  This is also where they set up shop for the English books (little library) that we compiled on a visit in 2009.  Also, it was Saidi’s grandfather (Babu) that we spent a lot of time trying to help last year (with his weepy eyes, which are better this year).  Saidi – well … he’s going to go somewhere if Project Wezesha has anything to say about it. J  Not only does he have smarts, but he has integrity and a strong moral sense about him.  He’s just ‘good people’, ya know!  So, Saidi and Dibeit are Form 1 students.  Saidi goes to Mugonya Secondary school which is in Kiganza village.  According to Saidi, it’s a little grim – teachers not always showing up, 60+ students per class and no books.  It’s still so early for Saidi and I think we may investigate either a better school or additional support outside of school – such as a tutor, and definitely books.

Our young friend Asheley was with us, too.  I supported Asheley briefly to go to a supplementary school because his final examinations from secondary school weren’t good enough for him to go to high school.  However, the teachers at this school – called Brothers of Charity – were flippant and only came to teach when they felt like it.  So Asheley invested his school fees into a business and now has saved over 250,000Tsh in the bank.  He rotates profits and purchases and in this way, he supports his mother and his younger siblings.  On Saturday, he just wanted to come along and see the progress on the school as he helped carry some stones and sand with us last year.

So – moving forward and considering the situation with the teachers, we’ve decided to buy textbooks to support the students outside of school.  For each secondary school, we’re buying one set of books for each subject (Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics) for our scholarship program students to share in study circles.

In terms of the girls who are graduating this coming week, we have to wait until the end of October to find out if they will pass their secondary school exit exams and be accepted into high school.  I am crossing my fingers that they will pass, but as I mentioned before – it’s not looking so good.  So, Hindu and Edina made a suggestion/request that Project Wezesha continue to support them after secondary school as they attend VETA – which stands for Vocational Education and Training Authority.

Today, Lucas and I visited VETA to see what the situation is.  They have short courses (1 week to 1 month long) on computers and driving.  These courses (addressing topics such as Intro to Computer, Microsoft Word, Internet and Email, Basic Driving, etc.) cost anywhere from 20,000Tsh to 100,000Tsh depending on length and intensity ($15-$80USD).  They also have long courses that last about one year in many vocational areas, including welding, electrical installation, carpentry, food production, information and communication technology, computer and secretarial studies, electronics, tailoring, etc.  There are two options for the year-long courses – attend as day students or board on campus.  For our students, given the fact that VETA is close to Kigoma town and they live in the villages, the best option is to board on site while studying and go home on the weekends.  The cost is 120,000Tsh per year (~$100USD).

After considering the alternative (end of education all together), we’ve decided to continue supporting these four girls and not take any new students into the program until we see how this VETA experience is going and if there will be enough funding for additional students.  If they pass their exams, we’ll support them in high school.  If they don’t pass their exams, we’ll find a way to board them at VETA for the long course of their choice.  We’re thinking of finding individual benefactors to support each of the four girls – so for those of you who wanted to support one individual specifically – this will be your chance!!  I’ll keep you posted as exam results unfold.

Finally, it’s a little bit of a gamble, but I’m thinking about changing my return ticket to Dar es Salaam by two days so that I can stay for the graduation.  I didn’t realize how close it was and currently I’m scheduled to return to Dar the day before!!  So, for no charge I can change my ticket, but it means flying back to Dar the day before my flight to Amsterdam … which is the gamble part.  Precision Air swore the flights would go and there would be no problem.  I think it’s worth the risk to see the girls walk with their class and celebrate successful completion of secondary school!  Wahoo!!

 

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Update on Amahoro Secondary School – Sept 2011

On Thursday, Lucas and I went to Kiganza village to scoop up Hindu and Saidi and head over to Mgaraganza for our first big day of labor.  We figured we’d have them come along so we could catch up while on our walk and as we wait for the work to begin.

When I stepped off the dala dala in Kiganza, first I was almost bowled over by Hindu as she came running up the street as if she had known I was going to step off the dala dala.  Our excitement to see each other was huge and yet, seeing her again – it was like I only left last week, not last year.  Then before I knew it, another body was flying toward me – Mama Juma, one of my favorite mamas in the village.  PW followers might remember the picture of baby Hawa, barely a month old smiling in my lap last year (surely gas, but a cute picture nonetheless).  I’ve known this family from the first year I came here and I quite love their kids – Juma and Musa.  She was whooping to see me and gave me a big hug, then kept laughing and saying my name between greetings and check in questions.  Her smile – Love!!!

We went to Saidi’s house and he was squatting over a piece of paper with a magnifying glass held up so that the sun was beaming through – trying to start a fire.  I crept into his ‘courtyard’ and then I jumped forward and said ‘BOO!’ and he didn’t even look up! … so I laughed. Then he jumped back and stood up to greet me, laughing with surprise.  He’s grown at least a few inches since last year, which for him is just bringing him up to speed as he was always the shortest of his peers.  We spent a quick minute greeting his babu and his sister Zainabu, but then we started making our way over to Mgaraganza.

The walk to Mgaraganza from Kiganza is about 40-50 minutes and it flew by as we caught up and Lucas chatted to them about folks they all knew and about school stuff.  We went straight up to the school site and waited for Isaya to arrive with the first big delivery of bao or wood for the roof.   Isaya is Lucas’ brother and our general contractor.  We had just met with him that morning in town to hand over a stack of cash to get the first installment of roof materials delivered.

The roof will be completed on 4 classrooms and two offices while I’m here!  But it will also tap the bank.  The wood for the job fills two large dump trucks and the aluminum will make a third load.  Each load costs just under $80 to deliver.  The wood and aluminum cost a pretty penny and then the nails tack on another few lines of the budget.  All told, the cost for the roofs on this row of rooms (6 in total) is 8.6 million shillings plus labor to pay the skilled workers that put the roof on – 8 million shillings … in USD, is about $7,000.  So …. Thank you so much to everyone who came out for our Raise the Roof fundraiser in SLC this past August because without the $4,000 that came in from that event, we surely would not have been able to make this happen this summer!  And huge thank you to everyone else who donated outside of this event in the past year.  I guess I should really say that we are making it by the skin of our teeth.  Which of course, means that I’ll have to hit the fundraising hard this coming year to keep the project rolling forward!  Incidentally, I also met with the district director in the government here in Kigoma – he advised me on how to go about creating a request for support from the Tanzanian government with the village government, so we’ll be meeting the local leaders on Monday to write up that request … fingers crossed, the TZ government meets us half way to speed up this process!

The wood arrived in two trips separated by the time it took for Isaya to go back with the transport crew and reload in town (about 2 hours).  After the first drop of the wood, Lucas, Hindu, Saidi, Kalekwa and I stacked the hundreds of 2x4s that they dropped off.  I didn’t realize we’d be working so hard and I told Saidi and Hindu not to feel obligated to help – but of course those two would never just stand by watching.  Our backs were about broken when we were done (well old dada Rai’s was anyway) and we were all exhausted and so hot.  Lucas and Kalekwa ran to the Mgaraganza market and stocked up on bananas while I sat and chatted with Hindu and Saidi.

I talked to them about school and the situation here in the village schools.  It was not the most uplifting conversation – they told me some grim statistics about the success rate of children passing secondary school final examinations.  I shudder as I type this, but in one secondary school – where I have a few students in attendance, 7 of 200 students passed their final examinations last year.  SEVEN!  The biggest problem as the students see it is that the teachers don’t always come to class and only the teacher has a book for the subject he teaches.  The students rely on the teachers to give good lectures, provide good notes and help them review for exams.  But, I ask you – how can a teacher really make sure students understand what you’re teaching when you have 60-90 students in one class?

One bookseller in town said that for student success, it’s 80% the books and 20% the teachers.  Of course, he’s a bookseller, but I think there’s a lot of truth to this statement.  If students have money to buy books and study outside of school, they will fare well – if they don’t, then they stand little chance.  Most students can barely pay the 20,000Tsh/year school fees let alone spend 10,000Tsh on a text book.  Many of our scholarship program students are in Form 4 and will take their final examinations this year in October.  Only two of our students are in Form 1, and one of them is Saidi.  Saidi is truly one of the best and the brightest and I’m thinking strongly about putting him into a private school. … is that ok to do? Regardless, we’re planning to buy some books for the students.

More stories and updates to come as the new week unfolds!  Happy Weekend.

 

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The Education of Lucas Lameck

With his salary, one of the top priorities for Lucas was to continue his education.  As soon as he started earning a salary for his work with Project Wezesha, he set to finding himself a school to attend.  He was attending school for a short while before Tanzania passed a new ordinance – defeating many of its citizens who aspired to go back to school.  This new ordinance, law, policy – whatever it is, says that students who passed their secondary examinations, qualifying them for high school, but who did not go directly to high school after secondary school could not return later to continue their education with currently matriculated, recent graduates of secondary school.  So, in other words – if you finish secondary school and then take a few years to work to earn the money needed to pay for high school, you’ve just lost your chance at further education.

And so, Lucas along with (as he says) 80,000 others in the country, were kicked out of school.  I suppose they’re just following suit with many other countries, such as the US that don’t allow 23 year olds to come back and finish high school after dropping out in the 10th grade, but it seems that here – circumstances are just different … or maybe they could have given them a 3-year notice so people could rush back for high school education before it was effective.

Fortunately, a teacher in the program that he was removed from advised him to seek instruction from private teachers.  He would pay a similar amount but would work with teachers in a one-to-one capacity, studying the same subjects that he would be learning here in the high school setting.  For Lucas, this was a minor set back, but ultimately, he just wanted the opportunity to continue his studies.   Since locating good, available teachers, he has been studying 9 hours a day with three different teachers to cover various subjects including English, Physical Geography and History.

It’s been fun (and tiring) to listen to all the things he’s learned since going back to school.  He told me about how much new information he’s gleaned about World Wars I and II, Hitler, Musolini and the Holocaust.  I had just visited Ann Frank’s home in Amsterdam and bought The Diary of Ann Frank when I was there.  I was excited to give that book to Lucas since he had so recently been diving into this tragic history.

In his English class, he has been reading some novels by an author from Cameroon.  He told me how important it is to know the theme, the characters, the setting, the time period, etc. when reading a book. J  Then he proceeded for an entire dala dala ride to Kiganza to tell me about the book – about the rebellious nature of the story’s female character and how the author was using this book to shake things up and shed light on local cultural practices that might not be so useful to society, such as arranged marriage and keeping girls out of school.  Lucas knew the names of every character and as he told me the story, it no longer seemed like he was recapping a book, but rather telling me about these people he knew.  His ‘clif notes’ were so thorough that I could pass an exam on the book.

Physical geography has certainly stuck with Lucas – I think it’s his favorite subject.  I have heard him give mini-lectures on four occasions now (once to me, once to our friend Ashahadu, once to Hindu and Saidi and once to the group of our scholarship students) about various topics in physical geography, such as earthquakes.  When recounting to Hindu, Saidi and Ashahadu, he was speaking mostly in Swahili, but as he is learning these subjects in English, the key terms are in English – so throughout his mini-lectures, I would pick up many terms such as mantle, core, magma, epicenter, plates, richter scale, seismology, etc.  It made me smile to see how captive he held his young audience.  He uses an engaging interactive lecture approach, being sure to ask them intermittent questions, pose situations to them and then ask them to recall what he just covered. He even rounded off the lectures with the students by posing some possible final examination questions that they might see after they complete Form 4 and calling on them to answer.  They all told him he’s a great teacher and that he makes things clear to them.

Of course, all of these lectures flowed from his smile while either sitting atop a pile of stones at the building site of Amahoro Secondary School, while waiting for the delivery of wood or while making our casual stroll to and from Mgaraganza along narrow dirt trails, shaded by palm trees and flanked by various small scale agriculture crops.  It’s so great to see him so excited about learning and hear all that he’s retained.  It’s amazing how much more you keep under the lid when you’re learning because you want to and not because you have to.  It’s also a nice testament to my career as a teacher educator to see the impact of good teachers – it’s often underestimated.  Lucas has good teachers, Lucas is a good teacher.  Our students often say that the teachers are lazy and don’t show up to school often enough and when they do, they don’t always teach very well.  This makes me sad, but you can only do so much in one lifetime, so for now – we build.    Perhaps later we train the teachers.

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Back in the Kigoma Region!

It was so great to arrive back in Kigoma!  Lucas met me at the airport and we were both glowing to see each other again.  He’s really become like a brother to me, and the fact that ‘Dada Rai’ is how he and most others refer to me (Sister Rai), well it just always feels great to come back – like coming to one of my many homes around the globe.  Lucas and I came up to the hotel to drop my things and then we headed to town to have lunch.  I gave him his new Project Wezesha shirt and prints of all the photos that he’s taken over the past year – and some from my trip last year.  We caught up on the gaps between emails over the past year and I got the scoop on folks we know.

The best update was that our friends Ashahadu and Jane had a baby girl, Sifa and that she’s lovely and doing fine.  When I went to meet her in the village, I saw just how fine she is – her Rai-given nickname will easily be ‘Tank’ and eating is clearly not a problem for her.  She’s a big beauty with huge eyes and a full belly!

The worst update was that our watchman, who keeps an eye on the school, the ‘store room’, tools, materials, etc. lost his wife last year and then his infant baby last month.  Last August his wife died from complications due to the dreaded obstructed labor that plagues so many women – in developed and developing. The key difference between the two contexts being the more highly trained doctors and therefore successful surgeries in the hospitals in developed regions of the world.

Here, Kalekwa’s wife was giving birth at the dispensary in the village and, as Lucas put it, the baby was coming out “randomly” – first a leg, then … Eventually, baby was born alive but the mother died.  Poor Kalekwa is a young father with three children ages 7, 5, and 3 years and now an infant.  Fortunately, relatives stepped in to help raise the children, including the newborn.  I’m not sure why, but last month, at almost a year old – the baby died suddenly.  That’s really all anyone knows about that.  So, Kalekwa is so sad but life goes on and he has some support – but my heart goes out to him and the little ones. The village births seem like such a gamble!  I also learned that his brother also lost his wife in childbirth due to similar circumstances.  Then I found out that Jane had Sifa while squatting behind their house!  If she died ….. oh, the thought pains me.  I hope they have their next child at Maweni hospital in town!

The day after arriving, Lucas and I visited Mgaraganza village – mainly so I could check out the school and see what the progress was like.  Four classrooms and two offices are finished and waiting for their roofs.  I was hoping to see more walls up at this point, to be honest, but the money was still sitting in the bank, waiting for the big roof project – and I’m glad for that because, as you’ll read about the Amahoro Secondary School update in another blog entry, the roof effort is spendy!  Nonetheless, it was great to stand inside the large classrooms and envision the future – rooms filled with students, learning in the most beautiful environment – surrounded by trees on a hilltop overlooking the valley that houses several villages.

Of course, with any visit to the village, a little posse of curious kids trailed in behind us and spent some time wandering from room to room, watching me more than taking in the classrooms – obviously, as these classrooms practically sit in their back yard and well, wazungu don’t come around every day.  As they warmed up to me, shared their names with me and started to laugh a little – we began shooting some pics.  Each and every one of them is so beautiful and I just love hearing them laugh and seeing them smile!

 

Two days after I arrived in Kigoma was Eid, the celebration of the end of Ramadan.  I was glad when the day finally arrived because it seemed like there was some confusion about when it was to be.  I was on the dala dala en route to Kiganza one day and had the great ‘pleasure’ of sitting in the midst of a screaming match between two Muslim men over when Eid would be.  The elder of the two clearly had the upper hand in the argument and kept putting the younger one in his place, however that young fellah definitely fought back quite a bit, frowning and yelling.  I didn’t pick up on everything but I knew they were arguing about the moon and when it would appear.  I also heard them talking about the times before TV and radio and then I figured the older man was trying to teach the younger man about the world, a little bit.

Later, Lucas told me that, in fact, the older man was saying to the younger man – what do you think they did in the days before TV and radio; how do you think they knew it was Eid – do you think they had to wait for someone to ride into town and tell them? I wondered about this line of argument and Lucas said that they were also discussing the moon and how just because you don’t see the moon in Kigoma doesn’t mean that they didn’t see the moon elsewhere.  They were talking about how at that very moment, they were seeing the moon in United States while we were in our early morning commute.  They were also discussing cloud cover and other factors.  Oh, it was just confusing – and I think everyone was hungry and ready for Eid.  There had already been two false starts and now finally, Eid was upon us and everyone was ready to celebrate!

Every village was having a disco party and every family was having a great feast.  Everyone was dressed in their best clothes – the outfits they only wear on holidays – shiny, clean, new outfits.  Little girls in bright matching tops and skirts hugging their cute little bodies – fitting so well in fact that they were probably made just recently for the celebration.  Little boys in three-piece suits and their best Sunday shoes, looking more like little men than children.  All the women had their best hair, make-up and dresses on.  Of course, not everyone is Muslim – but everyone is having an awesome day!

Lucas and I joined our friends Ashahadu and Jane for a feast in their home in Mgaraganza Village. (Pictured above – their son, Mickey chopping sugar cane and laughing with friends)  Both Ashahadu’s and Jane’s mothers were there, a few of their siblings and other friends and relatives.  Every guest who popped into the yard to say hello in passing jumped back with a  little laugh when they saw me – whispering “mzungu?” before saying a little ‘eh eh’ with a smile and coming in, greeting everyone and finding a place to sit and chat while Jane and a few other women prepared dinner.

After dinner, Kalekwa (the watchman) brought his three kids by to visit – beautiful children!

After dinner, we chatted for over an hour with Ashadadu about his work in Gombe National Forest.  He told us all about the chimps’ behaviors and about the different groups that live in Gombe.  We learned all about how they navigate their habitat, how they mate, how they fight, how they are ostracized for trying to leave one group for another, how they are protected by their own – it seems like rough living for every creature in there from the bush bucks to the bush pigs, chimps and baboons… a daily struggle for life, space, peace.  Ashahadu showed me recent pictures of him and Jane Goodall from her summer 2011 visit.  He spends some time with her every time she comes … I’m envious!  One of these years, maybe I’ll get to meet her.

Back at the hotel, I have a glass of wine, enjoy the Tanganyika sunset and chat with the folks working here who are friends to me after years of staying here.  It’s just another nice thing about coming to TZ – Bennie, Asha, Kuluwa, etc.  Great folks!  Of course, after walking 1.5 hours a day, sitting around in the sun and pushing my brain to the limits with this new language, I sleep hard every night and store up for the next line of business.

In short, this week we have visited the village government, the district government, the Ministry of Education, the building site, the scholarship program students, many friends and the builders.  I’ll tell more about some of these visits soon.